THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE DISTRICT is taking responsibility as a Corte Madera landowner.

Its 72 acres along the bay had become a Marin homeless hideout, a place where people had been setting up camp and creating a public safety hazard with their campfires. In January, a campfire set off a wildland fire that illuminated the night sky while scorching 5 acres.

It was a reminder that Marin's challenges with the homeless are not limited to the larger cities such as San Rafael and Novato. Some of the homeless had found out-of-sight places to make camp in Corte Madera; little had been done by the district to clean out those encampments, until after the fire.

Working with the Central Marin Police Authority, Golden Gate has posted "No Trespassing" signs around the property. The signs are a warning to campers that they don't belong there and they will be cited for trespassing.

The signs, however, do not help people find shelter.

Marin's shelters are usually filled and the emergency winter shelter program ends in less than a week.

Little headway has been made in local leaders' talk of creating a new shelter, even just during winter months. The recent formation of a working group to come up with a countywide plan to address Marin's homeless challenges is a good start.

Corte Madera officials should be involved in helping come up with more shelter beds. Simply pushing the homeless out of town is not a solution; it just creates problems for neighboring communities.

The district is planning to do more than post signs.

Most of the property is bordered by a levee. The site was used for construction and dredge spoils during the construction of the Larkspur ferry terminal in the 1970s. It has become overgrown with pampas grass and other weeds, providing cover for homeless camps. The district plans to dispatch crews to clear the weeds from the property.

Police say that people who hike, run or ride their bikes on the paths on district property will not be cited, just those who leave the trails and take up housekeeping in the brush. The signs, however, will likely reduce public use of the trails.

Officials say they will issue warnings to offenders in hopes that they will break camp and leave. Writing citations is "our last resort," said Central Marin police Capt. Nick Valeri.

Recent fires were proof that land management by benign neglect was no longer a responsible option for Golden Gate.